The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

by Michelle Dean

Nora Ephron was a journalist, blogger, essayist, novelist, playwright, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and film director. She brought her sharp New York wit to all her work and in particular to the romantic comedies Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.

Dean's book builds a picture of the social and political progress of women through the twentieth century from Dorothy Parker to Nora Ephron.

Dorothy Parker, Mary McCarthy, Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael and Nora Ephron -these brilliant women are the central figures of Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion. They are united by their 'sharpness', the ability to cut to the quick with precision of thought and wit. The world would not have been the same without Dorothy Parker's acid reflections on the absurdities of her life. Or Mary McCarthy's fiction which is noted for its acerbity in analysing the finer nuances of intellectual dilemmas. Or Susan Sontag's ideas about interpretation, or Pauline Kael's energetic swipes at filmmakers. Or Nora Ephron's biting wit and strong female characters. Together they define the cultural and intellectual history of twentieth century America.

Michelle Dean is a journalist, critic, and the recipient of the National Book Critics Circle's 2016 Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. A contributing editor at the New Republic, she has written for the New Yorker, Nation, New York Times Magazine, Slate, New York Magazine, and Elle.

abridged by Sara Davies
read by Alexandra Mathie
produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Catherine Butcher, Communications Director of HOPE.

After years of feeling like an alien, a istener on being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of 50.
Presented by Luke Jones
iPM@bbc.co.uk @BBCiPM.

The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.

Lincolnshire is famous for vast fields of tulips, but this week Helen Mark meets people in the country who have a more personal relationship with flowers, including a family whose snowdrop wood is the location for a naming ceremony for their daughter, conducted by a Druid named Kevin. Helen contemplates the fading of memories with a Greek artist and choreographer, resident in Lincoln, who makes photographs using flower emulsions. There's a beekeeper who trains new recruits and packs her garden with as many flowers as she can to provide the bees with sustenance; a former IT manager turned English flower-grower and the only elderflower farmers in the UK.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast.

News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Sir Tim Rice talks to Aasmah Mir and Richard Coles about bringing the musical Chess back to the West End. He also reflects on his career, love of cricket and performing himself.

Listener Talitha MacKenzie got in touch and is appearing on the programme to talk about her love of historical costumes and dance.

Robyn Hollingworth left her life in London and returned home to rural South Wales when her dad was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. She's just published the frank diary she kept from this time.

Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls (the alter ego of Harry Shearer) talks to JP Devlin.

Gail Porter shares her Inheritance Tracks. She has chosen Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd and When Doves Cry by Prince.

Cook and food writer Diana Henry talks about how her recipes and menus have been influenced by her childhood, travels and experiences.

Jay Rayner and his panel of culinary experts are in Bradford. Dr Annie Gray, Sophie Wright, Rob Owen Brown and Sumayya Usmani answer the audience questions.

This week the panellists sample a flight of homemade soft drinks and learn how to brew their own ginger beer. They also help the audience find uses for gluts of rhubarb and suggest recipes to satisfy a half meat-eating, half vegetarian household.

And the panel is treated with a box of Pakistani celebration sweets called Mithai, brought by local sweet-makers in Bradford, and debates the best wedding favours.

Produced by Miranda Hinkley
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

A look behind the scenes at Westminster.

Amidst the violence, there are signs of a small but growing peace movement in Afghanistan. Kate Adie introduces stories and insight from correspondent around the world.

"This has again become, largely, an Afghan war," says Kate Clark in Kabul, " it is now overwhelmingly Afghans killing Afghans," but she has also noticed growing public exasperation at the conflict.
Diana Darke joined the British peers and priests recently granted access to Syria by the government, but as an Arabic speaker who knows the country well, she was able to look beyond the official narrative and what her guides wanted her to see.
In a refugee camp in Bangladesh, home to some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people who have fled violence in Myanmar, Aisha Gani stumbles across an unlikely scene. As they prepare their makeshift homes for the monsoon season, young men still find time to party.
Kevin Connolly has been rummaging through his attic and wondering what the changing design of matrioshka or Russian dolls reveal about Russia today.
And Sophie Raworth explains what its like to run 150 miles through sand dunes and over rocky cliffs in the Morocco desert - carrying everything you need to survive for six days.

Producer: Joe Kent.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

On Money Box with Paul Lewis: Banks are failing their customers who are blind or visually impaired by making it hard for them to access full services online. More than twenty years ago the advent of computer software that reads information on a screen aloud has allowed people to independently control and manage their finances. But recent bank IT upgrades have added complexity and blind people say they've not been consulted properly to ensure the online banking systems still work well for them. Reporter Lee Kumutat, who is blind, has the story. Paul Smyth, Head of Digital Accessibility at Barclays, also joins the programme.

Inheritance tax combines life's two certainties - death and taxes - in one neat package. If you own a house in an expensive area and have a lot of investments you will probably have to pay the tax. IHT is a very unpopular tax. A YouGov poll in 2015 revealed more people view Inheritance Tax as unfair than any other tax. Barely one in five thought it was fair. And that is despite the fact that only one in every 25 deaths results in inheritance tax being paid. The Chancellor has ordered a thorough review of the tax. And the Office of Tax Simplification - the independent adviser to the government - is carrying out that work. This weekend it is launching a public consultation. You can log onto its website and let it know what you think of Inheritance Tax - how well it works - what's wrong with it - and how it could be improved.
The OTS will report back to the Government in the Autumn with its conclusions. Though when any changes might happen is unclear. Paul Morton, tax director of the OTS, explains why it's time the views of the public on Inheritance Tax are heard.

And still on the theme of IT upgrades: TSB is facing a multi-million pound bill to reimburse customers hit by its IT fiasco. Around half the bank's customers have been unable to logon to their accounts at the first attempt since last Sunday. The problems began after the bank started migrating customers onto a new IT system managed by its Spanish owner Sabadell. TSB says it will be reimbursing customers any overdraft fees and charges they may have incurred.

Producer Sally Abrahams
Editor Jim Frank.

Miles Jupp is joined by Andy Hamilton, Hugo Rifkind, Mark Steel and Suzi Ruffell for a satirical look at the week's biggest (and smallest) headlines.

In this episode the panel discuss Trump and Macron's 'bromance', TSB's online banking crisis and a small Australian boy's great adventure.

The Chair's script was written by Max Davis, James Kettle and Danielle Ward with additional material by Heidi Regan and Mike Shephard.

The producer was Joe Nunnery

A BBC Studios Production.

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The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Sevenoaks School in Kent with a panel including Vice Chair of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch MP, Sir Ed Davey MP who speaks for the Liberal Democrats on Home Affairs, Shadow Policing Minister Louise Haigh MP and the Political Editor of The Sun newspaper Tom Newton Dunn.

Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

The true story behind General De Gaulle's secret flight from Paris at the height of the civil unrest of 1968. A drama that uncovers the panic at the centre of France's government and the fractured relationship between De Gaulle and his Prime Minister Georges Pompidou.

Based on first hand testimony, the drama paints a vivid picture of France teetering on the brink of a second revolution. Starring Ronald Pickup as De Gaulle, Barbara Flynn as Yvonne De Gaulle and Philip Jackson as Georges Pompidou. Witten by Mike Walker.

At the height of the 1968 civil unrest in France, Charles de Gaulle, president of the French Republic, fled the Elysee Palace fearing armed attack and the violent fall of the government. He left Georges Pompidou alone and in charge, with a civil service concerned this was a Communist revolution.

His helicopter flew across a Paris of smoking barricades and running battles in the streets. Ten million people were on strike in France - two thirds of the workforce.

De Gaulle left word that he would be at his country house. But for six hours he disappeared. In fact he had left the country and gone to the HQ of the French army in Germany. He only dared return to France once he had the backing of General Jacques Massu and his troops. This is the story of those hours, of France with no government and a desperate de Gaulle.

WRITER: Mike Walker
PRODUCER: David Morley

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.

During the last ten years, The Unthanks have redefined what might be expected of English folk music. Their sequence of albums has reimagined traditional material in vivid new arrangements and reached into surprising new sources - for example, the songs of Molly Drake. But at the core of the group are the voices of Rachel and Becky, sisters born seven years apart.

Rachel and Becky share their sense of belonging to the landscape of the north-east, their inevitable attraction to melancholy and the qualities that allow each other's voice to blend so effortlessly.

And, in their studio in a Northumbrian farm-yard, they sing their signature melodies and a duet that most typically sounds for the two of them.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Jessie Buckley was just seventeen when she came second in the BBC talent show I'd Do Anything to find a Nancy for the West End revival of Oliver. Since then she's appeared in BBC dramas such as Taboo, War and Peace and The Woman in White. She tells us about her new film 'Beast'.

We hear from Caroline Criado Perez on the unveiling of the first statue of a woman to grace Parliament Square. She tells us why the figure of Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett is so significant.

Hadyn Gwynne tells us about her role in the latest production of The Way of the World.

Jennifer Palmieri the former director of Communications for Hillary Clinton's campaign tells us why she thinks more women are running for political office this year. She discusses with Alicia Glen the Deputy Mayor of New York whether this will help make a female President a reality.

We Cook The Perfect Quinoa and Cannellini Bean soup with the vegan food writer and blogger Aine Carlin.

Why does 'Office Housework' buying the loo roll, making teas and coffees and ordering lunch fall to women and particularly women of colour? Melanie Eusebe a Management Consultant and strategist in personal and business development and Bolu Babalola a freelance writer discuss.

Helen Grime tells us about music she composed. Woven Space inspired by the Woman's Hour Craft Prize finalist Sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow.

Caroline Wyatt presents coverage of the day's news.

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The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Clive Anderson and YolanDa Brown are joined by Don McLean, Amanda Abbington and In-Sook Chappell for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Kimmie Rhodes and The Magic Numbers.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

Series of profiles of people who are currently making headlines.

British film Beast, set on Jersey observes a dark and complicated relationship between a troubled young woman and a local man suspected of committing ghastly crimes
The Writer is Ella Hickson's new play at London's Almeida Theatre. Does the patriarchy work against the interests and power of women writers?
Curtis Sittenfeld's collection of short stories You Think It, I'll Say It, covering subjects including unhappily married couples to happily unmarried couples, revenge and a female president of the US
Rodin and the art of ancient Greece is an exhibition at The British Museum, looking at the inspiration Rodin took from the statuary of The Parthenon
Netflix is embracing the scandi-drama zeitgeist with their first original Danish series The Rain, set six years after a rain-carried virus wipes out almost everyone in Scandinavia.

Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Denise Mina, Sarfraz Manzoor and Alice Jones. The producer is Oliver Jones.

If one word ruptured the early optimism felt in Britain for its ex-colonies, it was Biafra. Pictures of black children with distended bellies, headlines like "Land of No Hope", footage of aid workers struggling on the ground - such coverage may have since become banal but, in June 1968 in the new era of TVs and tabloid splashes, it was unprecedented.

Fifty years on, through archive material and interviews with first-hand witnesses, Afua Hirsch explores the Nigerian-Biafran conflict and its legacy as one of the first wars beamed nightly into British living rooms.

It's the story of a new style of British reportage - visceral, humanitarian, and heavily collaborating with NGOs. And, after Empire, perhaps a new sense of Britishness too as a shocked public helped send the largest ever civilian airlift to Biafra to deliver aid.

We hear from Nigerians recalling their childhood memories of famine and their teenage experiences of battle. We hear from British journalists still shocked at what they found in the Biafran enclave. And we hear from the aid workers reacting to those reports, flying to places they had never heard of to try to help.

It would be a type of coverage - the foregrounding of human stories, of wide-eyed hungry black babies, and the relegation of politics - with a deep imprint on how we came to know Africa, from Biafra through Ethiopia and Live Aid to the present day. But has it proved deeply harmful to our understanding of what is actually happening on the continent?

The impact of the Biafran war in Nigeria is much discussed - here we ask how it shaped the way Britain sees the world.

Producer: Sami Kent
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

Martin Jarvis reprises his award-winning Broadway characterisation as Jeeves. Masterly comic plotting down at Totleigh, directed by Rosalind Ayres and also starring Joanna Lumley, Ian Ogilvy and Michael York.

Local curate Rev 'Stinker' Pinker (Julian Sands) is in love with Sir Watkyn Bassett's niece, Stiffy Byng (Moira Quirk.) They can't get married until Pinker gets a vicarage of his own. Sir Watkyn (Ian Ogilvy) holds one in his gift, but he's not keen on Stinker. Control-freak Stiffy orders Bertie (James Callis) to help.

Bad idea.

Blackmail, petty larceny, elopement and knock-out blows ensue. Can Jeeves (Martin Jarvis), untangle these threads and keep the young master out of jail? Will bibulous Major Plank (Michael York) or cheery Aunt Dahlia (Joanna Lumley) hinder things?

Of course, it's Jeeves who engineers a surprising conclusion.

Cast:
Aunt Dahlia...Joanna Lumley
Bertie Wooster...James Callis
Jeeves...Martin Jarvis
Roderick Spode...Adam Godley
Major Plank...Michael York
Sir Watkyn Bassett...Ian Ogilvy
Rev Harold Pinker...Julian Sands
Stiffy Byng...Moira Quirk
Madeline Bassett...Elizabeth Knowelden
Gussie Fink-Nottle...Matthew Wolf
P.C. Oates...Darren Richardson
Emerald Stoker...Tara Lynne Barr
Cyril/Butterfield...Kenneth Danziger

Dramatised by Archie Scottney

Sound Design: Mark Holden
Director: Rosalind Ayres

A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

Clive Anderson and guests ask if public inquiries are worth the huge investment of time and resources. Are judges, as establishment figures, the right people to spearhead these investigations?

Public inquiries are set up to uncover the truth following scandals or perceived injustices. They are designed to heal wounds through the rigorous, public airing of the issues and circumstances around controversial events. But they are also expensive and slow. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry took 12 years to report and cost £192m.

The Inquiries Act 2005 was intended to reduce the length and cost of inquiries, while maintaining the confidence of both the parties at the centre of the inquiry and the wider public. Has it been successful?

Clive's guests discuss whether judges are the right people to head inquiries. Their ability to hear evidence and reach judgements is not in dispute, but are they too much part of the establishment to be always truly independent?

Are the recommendations made by inquiries adequately implemented? In his 2,000 page report Sir Robert Francis QC made 290 recommendations. How many is too many?

And do inquiries really need lawyers to be involved at all?

Producer: Matt Willis
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.

(9/17)
Russell Davies is in the chair for another general knowledge test, with questions on subjects ranging from the English Civil War to the Eurovision Cong Contest, and from the Bible to the Beano. A semi-final place awaits today's winner.

The competitors are:
Mark Cooper, a civil servant from Brighton
Brian Eastty, an actor and teacher from Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex
Anthony Fish, a community safety officer from Pontypool
Daniel Fullard, an employment manager from Sunderland.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

Sean Borodale shares poems from his collection Asylum, written deep within the caves of the Mendip Hills in Somerset. He is then joined in a caving pub by Holly Corfield Carr

Produced by Ellie Richold.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

Writers choose poems as inspiration for new stories.

Episode 1/4

Crossing the Bar

An adventurous woman makes an unexpected journey.

A captivating story inspired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem about the journey from life to death.
By novelist and short-story writer, Linda Cracknell.

Credits

Writer ..... Linda Cracknell
Reader ..... Irene Macdougall
Producer ..... Claire Simpson

A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4.

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The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Bells on Sunday comes from St Lawrence's Church in Towcester, Northamptonshire. The church's large Ironstone tower is a prominent feature of the Towcester skyline and has probably contained bells since its construction in 1485. Today there are 12 bells, the earliest 8 were cast in 1897 and the final 4 were added in 1989. We hear them ringing Spliced Surprise Maximus.

The latest national and international news.

Musician Jahnavi Harrison interweaves music, prose and poetry in a celebration of the women who choose to dedicate their lives entirely to God.

She explains that she has always been fascinated what it is that drives a woman to leave behind worldly affairs and adopt a life of seclusion and near-constant prayer. Though the tradition is timeless, with today's calls for feminine independence and gender equality the choice to be a nun feels just as radical and relevant as it might have in the past.

Jahnavi explores the life of Emahoy Maryam Tsegue-Gebroue, an Ethiopian nun whose prodigious talent as a pianist has led to her records being adored all over the world. We also meet the "maharis", Indian temple dancers who were dedicated at a young age, considered to be brides of God, taking part in a wedding ceremony and wearing all the markings of married women.

With readings from the 13th century Christian mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg, St Saint Clare of Assisi, the Bhagavad Gita and ancient Buddhist poetry from the Therigatha and music including the work of Christian polymath Hildegard of Bingen, The Flamingos and Yamuna Devi.

Presenter: Jahnavi Harrison
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Mebiol have invented a system which allows farmers to grow food without soil and with very little water. This hydrogel film system means that farmers could grow vegetables and fruit in the desert. In a world in which water shortages and degraded soils are increasing this technology might soon become vital. Nick Luscombe meets Professor Yuichi Mori near Tokyo to learn how Japanese innovation is already producing highly prized produce such as tomatoes and why this system could help feed people in the harshest climates in the future.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.

Emily Watson makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Maternity Worldwide.

Registered Charity Number: 1111504
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'Maternity Worldwide'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Maternity Worldwide'.

Photo (c) Cineberg Ug | Dreamstime.com.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

Choral Eucharist live from Lancing College Chapel, West Sussex, in the chapel's 150th anniversary year. The preacher is Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, President of the Woodard Corporation. The Choir of Lancing College Chapel sing a vibrant setting of the Mass by the College's Director of Chapel Music Neil Cox. Featuring the voice of BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year Rafi Bellamy-Plaice. Hymns include Immortal, Invisible; I heard the voice of Jesus say; Ye watchers and ye holy ones. Readings: 1 John 4:7-11, 20-21; John 15: 4, 5. Organist: Edward Picton-Turbevill; Celebrant: The Revd Richard Harrison, Chaplain. Producer: Stephen Shipley.

Tom Shakespeare ponders why disabled sexuality is still so often taboo.

"Sexuality is a human right", he points out....and says we must set aside the notion that disabled people have "special needs" when it comes to sexuality.

"We have all the normal needs of non-disabled people".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Writer and naturalist Miriam Darlington selects her quintet of birds for Tweet of the Day

Producer Sarah Addezio.

Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.

Shula makes a fresh start, and Brian continues to scheme.

Sue MacGregor reunites five people who made their names in the ground-breaking TV comedy The Young Ones.

In the early 1980s, the most popular TV comedies were cosy sitcoms like To The Manor Born and Last of the Summer Wine. Live stand-up comedy was largely confined to working men's clubs and seaside resorts. Mother-in-law and Irish gags were still a staple.

But, in the backroom of a Soho strip club, an underground venue called The Comic Strip emerged. The non-sexist, anti-racist but violent and bolshy acts drew a fashionable crowd. Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman were among the stars in the audience.

TV producers drew from the performers they saw there for the casting of The Young Ones. The bunch of loud-mouthed scruff bags thrown together as housemates in grotty, tumbledown digs, really broke the mould.

When The Young Ones was first aired in November 1982, ratings were pitiful. But before long, the show, with its wild slapstick and surreal twists, soon won a dedicated following. Within six months, a second series was on TV and the team had a BAFTA award for their mantelpiece.

Like the British classic Fawlty Towers, the team decided that The Young Ones should only run for 12 episodes. By then, everyone involved had made their name and alternative comedy became the TV phenomenon of the decade.

Sue MacGregor is joined by original Young One Nigel Planer who played depressed musician Neil; Chris Ryan who played Mike "The Cool Person"; Alexei Sayle who played members of the Balowski family; Lise Mayer who co-wrote the series with Ben Elton and her then partner actor Rik Mayall; and Stephen Frost who played a number of roles across both series.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

John Finnemore, Henning Wehn, Lou Sanders and Graeme Garden are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as The Rolling Stones, vegetarianism, eggs and Harry Potter.

Produced by Richard Turner
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

You know their names, now Sheila Dillon helps tell the stories of the finalists in the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2018. For the last month, our judges, including Tim Hayward, Andi Oliver, Tom Parker-Bowles and Romy Gill have travelled the length and breadth of the UK to meet this year's finalists.

In this programme, our judges meet a Northern Irish farmer who went from never trying salami to producing award winning charcuterie in a year. They visit a local deli and cafe owned by a fisherman who has spent his life catching eels and salmon on the Severn. And speak to the founders of a brewery devoted to making great tasting beers with less than 0.5% alcohol.

In the first of two editions of The Food Programme, we celebrate our BBC Food and Farming Awards 'school of 2018'.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.

The latest weather forecast.

News with Mark Mardell including a preview of the local elections and the search for medieval treasures under garden sheds in Hampshire.

Piano technician Ulrich Gerhartz's job is to prepare Steinway pianos for performances by the world's leading pianists. Ulrich knows many of the great performers and how they like their instruments. It's his role to maintain pianos at the highest level and, when looking after concerts, he's on hand before, during and after the recital to ensure the piano is in the best possible condition for each individual pianist.

Steinway Hall in London houses a stable of eleven thoroughbred concert grand pianos, which get shipped around the UK and Europe for leading pianists, on which they either perform concerts or record CDs. This fleet of Formula 1 keyboards is made up of different instruments which suit the different players as well as a variety of acoustics and repertoire. It's Uli and his team's job to match the right piano to each pianistic occasion and to ensure that the instrument's prepared to the performer's specific wishes.

In this programme, Uli is preparing a piano for a concert by Steven Osborne at Wigmore Hall. And is showing pianist Kenneth Hamilton the current range of pianos available, including an exciting new grand which has just joined the Steinway team.

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Peter Gibbs and his panel make a visit to Cambridge. Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Wilson and Bunny Guinness answer the horticultural questions.

This week, the panellists assess a poorly-fruiting Greengage, suggest ways to improve the lifespan of some pansies, and discuss whether it is possible to espalier a Pyracantha.

They also offer planting suggestions for a north-facing front garden, advise on moving rhubarb and propose some ideas for a hedgerow windbreak.

And Arit Anderson follows up on the RHS guide to gardening in a changing climate from this time last year.

Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover introduces three conversations about dealing with Parkinson's, with renal failure and with the after effects of a brain tumour with the support of family and friends, in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Love Henry James: The Aspern Papers by Henry James. Dramatised by Amanda Dalton.

Determined to succeed where his colleague failed, a literary editor insinuates himself into the decaying Venetian villa of the elderly Miss Juliana Bordereau and her niece Miss Tina. He clearly wants something from Juliana. But what can it be? A dark and intimate tale about deceit and obsession.

Director/Producer Gary Brown.

Veteran crime writer John Harvey talks about the latest in his Charlie Resnick series, Body and Soul.
And what makes a convincing character in fiction? Writers discuss the art of bringing people alive with words.

A visit to the spring lambs and bluebell woods of Gillian Clarke's home in Ceredigion, Wales. The one-time National poet of Wales shares poems from her latest collection, Zoology as well as some old favourites.

Producer: Ellie Richold.

This year, St. Stephen's primary school in east London found itself at the centre of an incendiary and increasingly far-reaching debate that is rocking not only Muslim communities and campaigners across the UK but also penetrates the very heart of the country's education system.

An attempt to ban girls under the age of 8 from wearing the hijab to school resulted in a major backlash from the local community and beyond. Over 19, 000 people signed a petition to reverse the ban, a national campaign group got involved and social media was awash with outrage, some comparing the head teacher to 'Hitler' and branding her a 'paedophile'. The ban was swiftly reversed.

What is really at the root of the outrage given that Islam does not require children to cover their heads? And what is motivating the trend for younger girls -some as young as four- to wear the hijab, when previous generations would not have veiled so young?

Female Muslim campaigners have warned that it should be fiercely rejected' as it 'sexualises' young girls. Ofsted has voiced concern and is investigating whether teachers have come under pressure from religious groups to change uniform regulation. Others argue it is simply a case of girls copying their mums and suggesting otherwise is a form of Islamophobia.

In all the noise between parents, teachers, religious leaders, campaigners and authorities, who - if anyone - has the right to decide what a young girl puts on her head?

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The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

In a wonderfully eclectic mixed bag this week Liz Barclay has a feast of Japanese No Theatre; Romanian folk; soul, blues..... and Spike Milligan crooning - I kid you not.

All whipped together with a drizzle of diplomatic expulsions, a dash of razor sharp ripostes and a topping of nostalgia.....all served with side order of sarcasm and wit.

Producer: Kay Whyld
Production Coordinator: Rizwana Aysha Begum.

Alice is on the warpath, and Will is humiliated.

In recent years, Lucy Porter has become a mum of two and a middle-aged orphan. Now she explores her relationship with the concept of family, and the lasting effects of a childhood spent in Croydon.

Lucy gives helpful tips for children, parents and grandparents alike, explaining helicopter parenting, the value of benign neglect, and the rise of the tiger mother - a mother who comes to tea, eats all the buns and drinks all of daddy's beer!

As she charts the life cycle of a typical nuclear family, Lucy addresses issues like siblings. Why do we all think "it'll be nice for them to have each other to play with" when no siblings have ever played together nicely since the dawn of time?

Lucy takes us right to the end of the parenting process - when you end up having to parent your own parents. How do you tempt your parents out of the Morrison's cafe? Why is it essential to carry a pound coin at all times? What do you do when your dad insists he's a major international songwriter?

This is a warm and witty new show recorded at Stratford Circus Arts Centre, with a lot of laughs and a dollop of poignancy.

Cast:
Lucy Porter
Luke Kempner

Written by Lucy Porter
Additional Material by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Studio Manager and Editor- Jerry Peal
Production Manager- Sarah Tombling

Produced by Marilyn Imrie and Gordon Kennedy
Directed by Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.

Lynne Truss observes the inhabitants of Meridian Cliffs, a small wind-battered town on the south coast of England where divorced men from nearby Brighton come to live because property is cheaper.

One such man is Peter, a retired University don, whose well organised life is about to be disrupted by a visit from his infuriating brother.

Written by Lynne Truss
Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Straws

How much difference will a ban on straws really make to the amount of plastic in our seas? Some say it could be just a drop in the ocean.

Women on boards

Why do people quote the number of women on FTSE 100 boards? Is it telling us something useful about the glass ceiling? We explore whether the proportion of female executives has changed over time, and what it tells us about women in business.

Using personal data for the public good

Recent headlines surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica have kick started a debate about who should access our data. Hetan Shah, the Executive Director of the Royal Statistical Society, shares a plan he's had to make sure social media details are used for the public good.

The number of animals born each day

A ten year old listener got in touch to ask 'how many animals are born every day?' We set off on a hunt to the coast of Chile (well a simulated version at Penguin beach in London Zoo) to find the answer.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Charlotte McDonald
Editor: Richard Vadon.

Matthew Bannister on

Avicii, the Swedish DJ whose songs became anthems for millions of festival goers around the world. He was found dead aged 28 in Oman.

Dr. Ruth Nussenzweig the medical researcher who laid the foundations for the development of a vaccine for malaria.

Anita Shreve, the author of 18 novels, including The Pilot's Wife which sold more than three million copies.

Guy Playfair, the ghost hunter who investigated the controversial Enfield Poltergeist in the 1970s.

And Bob Bura, half of the animation team that brought us Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley.

Sexual harassment at work has become "normalised" according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

A recent UK survey by polling company ComRes found that half of women and a fifth of men have experienced it during their careers.

From unwanted comments and jokes to inappropriate touching, actions that go beyond office banter seem to have become the norm for many in the workplace.

As MPs and shareholders start to look at the issue more closely - business reporter Katie Prescott explores how companies are dealing with the growing number of sexual harassment revelations, and how they can prevent it happening in the first place.

Producer: Charlotte McDonald.

Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

Radiolab explores blame - why do we need it and can we push pass it to forgiveness? With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.

Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.

First broadcast on public radio in the USA.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The menswear revolution: Laurie Taylor explores the transformation in men's clothing with Jay McCauley Bowstead, lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion. Also taking part is John Harvey, Life Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and author of a book charting the history of men's dress from the toga to the suit. They're joined by Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Kent, who talks about her research on older men and fashion.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Catherine Butcher, Communications Director of HOPE.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast for farmers.

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Chris Packham presents the barn owl. As soft-plumaged birds which weigh very little Barn Owls avoid hunting in strong winds or heavy rain. Snow is a problem too because it allows voles and mice to tunnel beneath its blanket, out of the owls' reach. But in spite of seasonal perils, barn owls are a welcome sight over grassy fields and verges in many parts of the UK.

News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

The Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli delves into the meaning of time. He tells Andrew Marr how we live in a timeless world but have evolved to perceive time's flow.

The astrophysicist Carole Mundell is interested in the extragalactic. Her studies of the universe beyond our Milky Way help expand knowledge of cosmic black holes and explain powerful explosions in space.

Space travel is the new frontier, but exactly 250 years ago the Endeavour set sail from Plymouth seeking to test the limits of scientific understanding. An exhibition at the British Library, curated by Laura Walker, tells the story of Captain Cook's world-changing voyages and their studies into the skies, seas and lands beyond our shores.

And the marine biologist Helen Scales is more interested in exploring the world beneath the oceans. Her latest book marvels at the wonders of fish, from centuries-old giants to tiny restless travellers moving in shoals across our globe.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Benjamin Zephaniah reads his autobiography, beginning with his childhood growing up in Birmingham. It was a childhood coloured with love and violence, but it was also where his love of poetry first evolved - and his relationship with his parents went in two very different directions.

Written and read by Benjamin Zephaniah
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

Linda Marshall Griffiths' dramatisation of Henry James' passionate and heart-breaking novel about desire and money.

Kate Croy is in love with Merton Densher; a poor writer. Her rich aunt Maud disapproves. Maud has offered Kate a wealthy existence but if Kate chooses to marry Merton she risks losing it all.

Directed by Nadia Molinari.

Sushma Puri examines the controversial policy introduced in the 1960s to transport immigrant children miles from their homes and families to predominantly white schools.

In December 1963 the Conservative minister of education, Sir Edward Boyle, attended a meeting of 400 white parents in Southall, west London who were complaining that the arrival of large numbers of immigrant children was damaging their children's education. His conclusion, that schools were at risk of becoming "irretrievably immigrant", led to the introduction of a government policy aimed at dispersing Asian and African-Caribbean children.

A total of eleven education authorities, including Ealing, Bradford, Leicester and Luton, began what would becoming known as bussing - transporting children to schools in predominantly white areas of their boroughs.

The policy was initially accepted as a way of dealing with large numbers of non-English speaking children and encouraging integration, but it came to be seen as discriminatory and racist. As Sushma Puri finds out, no one proposed bussing white children to mainly immigrant schools.

Sushma talks to people who were bussed to schools many miles from their homes and families, becoming alienated and subjected to verbal and even violent abuse. Priya Sehgal was greeted with Nazi salutes from the eight year old skinheads in her new class, Yash Balggan attempted to scrub his face white to be more like the other children, and Tariq Mehmood says, "I don't understand how you can send a black child into a white only school and think they will come out un-scarred."

Sushma also meets the Ealing Education chief who oversaw bussing for many years but who now says he was never in favour of the policy. She talks to the former head of a prestigious London independent school who is calling for a return to bussing on a voluntary basis and seeks a response from school leaders with large numbers of ethnic minority pupils.

A Tigereye production for BBC Radio 4.

As a mother of two who's currently deciding how and where to educate her children, comedian Shappi Khorsandi presents the first of two highly personal programmes looking at the state of the education system in the UK.

In this first episode, she takes a trip down memory lane and chats to four of her old school friends who all went to her school in Ealing in the 1980s. Shappi also talks to fellow comedian Mark Steel, poet and author Michael Rosen, the head of Westminster School Patrick Denham, journalist Holly Baxter, education adviser Ross Morrison McGill, her brother Payvand and even her ten year old son.

In the process, Shappi uncovers the harsh reality of how we may have got education wrong in the past and how challenging it is to get it right now and in the future.

An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Michael Merrick challenges how we think about social mobility.

Sharing his own story, Michael makes the case that social mobility often involves pressure on individuals to move away - both physically and metaphorically - from the family and community which nourished them. He argues that the graduate professions thus take on a particular character, making those professions uncomfortable places to be for people arriving in them from working class backgrounds. And he suggests that this division, which often makes itself felt in education, is unwise. "In a contest between home and academic flourishing," he says, "some choose home; not because of ignorance, but because of a refusal to shed heritage as participation fee."

Producer: Giles Edwards.

News and discussion of consumer affairs.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

She rose to power behind the scenes in China's late 19th century imperial court, and became one of the most powerful women ever to exercise authority in the empire. Cixi was a dowager empress, and her influence shaped China through the tragedies of the late 19th century. She prevented her own nephew from launching reforms to modernise China, and endorsed one of the most xenophobic movements ever to convulse China: the Boxer uprising of 1900. Yet she ended up, ironically, as the woman who nearly turned China into a constitutional monarchy. Cixi's story embodies the wrong turns and empty hopes of one of China's most turbulent eras.
Presenter: Rana Mitter
Producer: Ben Crighton
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.

By award-winning writer, Christine Entwisle.

Pitch black comedy about a woman whose retirement crisis gets out of control when she becomes obsessed with turning back the clock in order to seduce her postman.

Starring Sue Johnston and Christine Entwisle.

Football Consultant: Matthew Crutchlow

Directed by Kirsty Williams.

(10/17)
This week's contest sees another four general knowledge contenders embarking on their bid to become the 2018 Brain of Britain. Today's winner will go through to the semi-finals in a few weeks' time, with a possible place for a runner-up too if they score highly enough. Russell Davies' questions range across geography, sport, politics, languages, science and popular culture.

As always, there's also a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by Beating the Brains.

Today's competitors are:
Tim Footman, a freelance editor from Croydon
Brian Johnson, a statistician, now retired, from Sutton Coldfield
Jean Staines, a retired IT support worker from Colchester
Anna Swain, an insurance underwriter from Bath.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

Singer and song collector Sam Lee celebrates the work of those who have fought to save the ancient folk songs of Britain from extinction.

In 1904, the German critic Oscar Schmitz declared that England was "the land without music". This is the story of the men and women who refused to accept this cultural slight and set out on a mission to rediscover the soul of our island. In doing so they found a river of ancient song flowing through it.

In the first episode, Sam Lee reveals that some of the early song collectors wanted to document the traditional songs before the suffocating effects of popular music extinguished their memory. Other collectors wanted to use folk melodies as inspiration for classical music that was "authentically British" in order to combat the sentiment of Europeans like Schmitz.

In the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, Sam describes how the early collectors had to painstakingly transcribe every song by hand. The practice of collecting was eventually revolutionised when the composer Percy Grainger started using the Edison Phonograph to record his subjects in 1906. These early recordings, scratchy and distorted though they are, offer us a vital window into the past.

Legendary folk singer and collector Shirley Collins describes the differing motivations of a fresh wave of collectors whose work fuelled a second folk music revival between the mid-1940s and 1970s. Sam concludes by arguing that, while the second folk revival waned after the 1970s, the work of the song collectors has never been more vital.

Presenter: Sam Lee
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

There is a certain way of saying the word 'spinster' that gives it implications of disapproval or even pity; as if for a woman, not being married is an inferior state. Why does it sound so unpleasant? And why is it more acceptable to be a bachelor than a spinster? Could part of the blame lie in religious traditions with their stress on the centrality of the family? Today women are forging careers and putting off marriage and babies. Is there a positive role for single women in religious structures which lay great stress on producing children? Is spinsterhood a holy state? Is it better for a woman with strong religious convictions to remain unmarried rather than being, what St Paul called, "unequally yoked together."

In an attempt to find answers to these questions, Ernie Rea is joined by Shelina Janmohamed - an author and commentator on Muslim social and religious trends - Jewish journalist Angela Epstein and former MP Ann Widdecombe, who is a Christian.

Ernie also talks to Dr Fauzia Ahmad. She is an unmarried Muslim woman whose own experience has informed 25 years of research into why young Muslim women are finding it increasingly difficult to meet suitable Muslim husbands.

Producer: Helen Lee
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Richard Osman, Elis James, Sindhu Vee and Alan Davies the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as buses, dancing, monkeys and statues.

Produced by Richard Turner.
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.

Alistair does not know where to turn, and Lexi has concerns.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

"I don't date black women." This is a phrase Bridgitte Tetteh has heard many times. Black, single and searching for Mr Right, she was even told by one man that he was looking for a white wife "to help him progress in society".

Shifting attitudes towards love and romance is a huge topic of debate among black British women with many discussions taking place about colourism, fetishisation, stereotypes and changing relationships with black men.

Bridgitte hears frank and lively discussion from both men and women in the community - including Kuba who describes herself as black, fat, and exhausted at the amount of racism she faces while dating online. Subrina, who dreams of having a black baby, wonders why black men reject her, and the poet Natural ponders why none of her brothers have settled with black women, while Haytch says black women are far too independent.

Does having black skin put you at a disadvantage when looking for love? Bridgitte is the single black female on a mission to find out.

Produced by Bridgitte Tetteh
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Corruption Incorporated - the Odebrecht Story
Odebrecht was one of Brazil's premier companies - the largest construction firm in Latin America. But some of its success in securing multi-million dollar contracts across the region was built on a policy of colossal bribery. This edifice of graft began to crumble when the Brazilian authorities started to investigate the state-owned oil company, Petrobras. As a result, CEO Marcelo Odebrecht was convicted of paying millions of dollars in bribes to Petrobras executives in cash-for-contracts. The testimony of Odebrecht executives in plea-bargain agreements with prosecutors continues to have fall-out in an election year, especially with former President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva now in jail on charges related to Brazil's wider corruption scandal.

Linda Pressly explores the organisation at the heart of the Odebrecht scandal - a whole corporate department set up to administer bribes. And she meets the company's new CEO, Luciano Guidolin, who tells her the company will be compliant. It will not tolerate corruption. Meanwhile, the Federal Police of Brazil continue to attempt to crack the codes that prevent them from fully accessing Odebrecht's encrypted computer system.

Presenter: Linda Pressly
Producer in Brazil: Jessica Cruz.

The microbiome is the strange invisible world of our non human selves. On and in all of us are hoards of microbes. Their impact on our physical health is becoming clear to science, but a controversial idea is emerging too - that gut bacteria could alter what happens in our brains.

In this final episode of the series BBC Science and Health correspondent James Gallagher examines a growing body of research into the gut as a gateway to the mind and why some scientists believe we could be o the cusp of a revolution in psychiatry that uses microbes to improve mental health.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

In a remote valley on the west coast of Shetland, Sandy takes his first tentative steps in crofting as his home life falls apart.

Read by Steven Robertson

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Malachy Tallack's debut novel is a quiet yet powerful study of contemporary rural Scotland that asks what remains when a way of life vanishes. Set on the rugged west coast of Shetland, in a community only ever a few steps away from extinction, Tallack's novel tackles big questions about land, inheritance and belonging without ever losing sight of the humanity and integrity of its characters.

Malachy Tallack is the author of two non-fiction titles which fused nature writing, history and memoir; Radio 4 Book of the Week 60 DEGREES NORTH and THE UN-DISCOVERED ISLANDS. Malachy won a New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust in 2014 and the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship in 2015. He is a singer-songwriter, author and journalist.

Michael Rosen talks to Dr Tiffany Watt Smith about the words we use to try and describe our emotions, and what that can tell us about the way we feel now and have felt at different times in the past. Sadness once occupied the place that happiness now does in terms of life aspirations, and nostalgia was listed as a cause of death on death certificates - in the twentieth century.
Producer Beth O'Dea.

News from Westminster.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Catherine Butcher, Communications Director of HOPE.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Steve Backshall begins May with the corn bunting. Corn buntings may be plain-looking birds which sing their scratchy songs from cornfields, but their private lives are a colourful affair and a single male bird may have up to 18 partners.

News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of York, learnt to dive in a leaky wet suit in the North Sea when he was a boy. As a student, he was introduced to the extraordinary diversity of marine life on a coral reef in the Red Sea. His job was to count different species of fish but he also noticed several different species of fish working together to defend a common resource, lurid green algal lawns. Life on coral reef is notoriously competitive and collaboration on this scale was unexpected. In 1991 he wrote a ground-breaking paper about marine reserves showing how it is possible to have our fish and eat them. It was a radical suggestion at the time. Now many countries are committed to protecting 10% of the ocean in this way by 2020. Aiming to maintain fish stocks in their current state is, Callum says, ridiculously unambitious. On sabbatical at Harvard University, he started reading historical accounts by pirates, travellers and fishermen and his eyes were opened wider still to just how rich marine life could be. As early as the 12th century laws were being put in place to help preserve fishing stocks. Two hundred years ago off the coast of Britain a diverse array of sea fans and sponges covered the sea floor. There were millions of oysters and scallops the size of dinner plates.
Producer: Anna Buckley.

Does economics have a problem with women? The Economist's Soumaya Keynes shares experiences with Harvard's Claudia Goldin, a former president of the American Economic Association.

Benjamin Zephaniah reads his autobiography. Growing up in Birmingham with a violent father and a loving mother, Benjamin, now a teenager, escapes the family home with his mother and starts a new life.

Church becomes an even greater part of their lives but it's not long before he finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

Written and read by Benjamin Zephaniah
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

Henry James' classic novel dramatised by Linda Marshall Griffiths.

Kate and Merton are deeply in love but without money they cannot marry; Kate's aunt Maud forbids it. When Merton is asked to go to New York by his newspaper editor they see an opportunity to play for time but how will the cope with being apart?

Directed by Nadia Molinari.

This is a powerful and immersive story of water, from its wild beginnings across landscape and time to the grinding stones and workshops of Sheffield's traditional blade grinders; master craftsmen called 'little mesters'. Sheffield whose name is derived from the River Sheaf stands at the confluence of five rivers; the Don, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. The rivers powered the water mills and the grindstones which were used to sharpen steel blades on which Sheffield's reputation was born. The heyday of the cutlery industry was in the 1800s and whilst the future of Sheffield's steel production remains uncertain, the rivers are a powerful reminder of its industrial past and the communities it supported. Narrator Chris Watson. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Martin Simpson and Richard Hawley visit master luthier Roger Bucknall, who reveals the extraordinarily painstaking and creative labour of love involved in making an acoustic guitar.

On a tour of his workshop, Roger shows not only a passion for instrument-making, but for the pure pleasure in working with wood. In the vast store of tonewood, we hear about the aural and decorative properties of centuries-old Claro Walnut, Bearclaw and the incredibly rare Snakewood. Roger discusses some of the fascinating and surprising stories behind his stock including the Giant Redwood, reclaimed from the Big River at Mendocino, and the 2,000-year-old Alaskan Sitka Spruce windfall.

We find out how Roger acquired some rare Brazilian Rosewood from the folk musician Mike Waterson and crafted it into three guitars, one of which Richard Hawley owns. "If anybody's ever seen Harry Potter, then they'll understand what the word Horcrux means," he says. "Roger, you're going to live forever with this 'cause part of your soul, without doubt, went into this guitar."

Roger explains the minute detail and precision employed here, with bespoke machinery and hand-made tools, from steam-bending and curfing to the hammering-in of frets with a hammer thought to have now made more than two million blows. "I have a deep passion for frets," says Martin Simpson. "It's how we do what we do. They are beautiful things, and when they're properly finished it makes all the difference in the world."

And who knew bits of guitars and mandolins could be made from old snooker tables or whiskey barrels? Or why Rosewood is called Rosewood?

A unique insight into a popular and much-loved instrument and three friends' obsession with it - with stories, laughs and music along the way.

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Dalia Elmelige tells the story of her life as a Muslim in America after 9/11.

'I didn't get to celebrate my little brother's first birthday', begins Dalia, as she describes her life as a Muslim in post-9/11 America. From playground bullying to work at the Carter Presidential Center on countering ISIS propaganda, in many ways her life has been defined by the aftermath of 9/11. In this moving talk, introduced by Olly Mann, Dalia shares some reflections on isolation and identity.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Consumer phone-in.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

They came out of the countryside and helped to build China's industrial revolution. In the late 19th century, textile factories started to appear in the Yangtze delta, and working in them, teenage girls and young women. It was a hard life with the ever-present prospect of lung disease or industrial injuries as they wove cotton and silk. Yet there were new horizons too: these young women had money in their own right, the chance to take holiday breaks, and even to venture to the big city, Shanghai, to press their noses against the windows of the ultra-modern department stores. At a time when Chinese companies are desperate to woo the female consumer, it's worth remembering that their counterparts were there a hundred years ago.
Presenter: Rana Mitter
Producer: Ben Crighton
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.

Sean Grundy's satirical drama inspired by the Momart warehouse fire that destroyed works by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, the Chapman Brothers and others of the Young British Artists movement.

"I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing."
Damien Hirst

On 24th May 2004, a fire in an East London warehouse destroys key works from the famous BritArt movement. Seminal works by Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Chris Offili and the Chapman Brothers go up in smoke. The collection is mainly owned by advertising guru Charles Saatchi. The art world is devastated. Many in the general public are highly amused.

Writer: Sean Grundy
Director: Dirk Maggs
Producer: David Morley

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4.

The whales, penguins and other seabirds and marine mammals of the Southern Ocean depend upon a reliable supply of the tiny shrimp-like krill. New developments in fishing and freezing technology mean that we can now join in the feast, popping krill pills for their high Omega 3 content.

The writer and chef, Gerard Baker has been working on fishing boats and cruise ships in the Antarctic for twenty years. He's worried that there may not be enough krill to go around, particularly in the crucial regions where breeding penguins rely on an easily accessible source of food.

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

Michael Rosen and Dr. Laura Wright are joined in the studio by a virtual assistant and Tom Hewitson - conversation designer for the likes of Siri, Alexa and Cortana. They discuss whether virtual assistants can ever speak like actual humans, and how us humans are developing a new vernacular for machines. Mitsuku is a bot that won an award for most human-like AI and Tay is a now-deceased bot who learnt to speak like a Nazi.

Producers Eliza Lomas & Sally Heaven.

Richard Feynman was a physicist who helped design the atomic bomb and won the Nobel Prize. He is the great life choice of businessman Tej Lalvani CEO of his family business Vitabiotics and the newest Dragon on the BBC show Dragon's Den. Feynman was also regarded as something of an eccentric and a free spirit who had a passion for playing the bongos. Helping to make the case for this great life Tej is joined by the expert witness David Berman, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Queen Mary University of London. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Trigger warning! This week Milton gets to the bottom of things by founding a seat of learning.

Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!". Because each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because, when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.

"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.

"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times

"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail

Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda) and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton" returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.

The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill ( Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell (Newsjack)

With music by Guy Jackson

Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

Johnny comes to the rescue, and there is more bad news for Will.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

An investigation into the anti-immigration, anti-Muslim organisation Knights Templar International. In a recent interview its front man Dowson described KTI as a "militant Christian organisation". KTI posts regular ads on social media to recruit new members and seek donations to fight what Dowson calls the "war between militant Islam and Christianity". In a recent interview he warned "we are going towards a war in the West. [...] We're heading towards war very quickly. We want to make sure when people hit the streets, militias will form. The Templar way is to train men up in everything - we have training course in video journalism, military stuff". With the money raised KTI buys paramilitary equipment which is sent to places like Northern Kosovo where British troops are still stationed to keep the peace between the Muslim Kosovo Albanian community and Orthodox Christian Serbians. "We took a huge consignment of bullet proof vests and tactical equipment and coms equipment just a few months ago we took them into Kosovo", he told a US right wing radio station, "right now we don't need AK-47s, right now we need technology, the AKs will come later".

Dowson, a former Evangelical preacher, is not a lone operator; he has a Europe-wide network of extremists to call upon. In Serbia he has aligned himself to some extreme far-right groups.. Last year Dowson was banned from Hungary for being a threat to national security. Through social media he says "we can reach tens of millions of people - we can get the news that the mainstream media hide, we can get it to tens of millions of people within an hour of it happening". Within the far right community Dowson is a familiar figure but more generally he has kept a fairly low profile and has been dubbed in media reports "the invisible man of Britain's far right". Concern about the activities of Dowson and Knights Templar International is growing across Europe as the organisation recruits more members to its cause and threatens the peace in some of the most volatile regions.

News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.

Claudia Hammond presents a series that explores the limits and potential of the human mind.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

In a remote valley on the west coast of Shetland, Sandy takes his first tentative steps in crofting. Winter is starting to bite as the community comes to terms with the death of the valley's oldest resident.

Read by Steven Robertson

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Malachy Tallack's debut novel is a quiet yet powerful study of contemporary rural Scotland that asks what remains when a way of life vanishes. Set on the rugged west coast of Shetland, in a community only ever a few steps away from extinction, Tallack's novel tackles big questions about land, inheritance and belonging without ever losing sight of the humanity and integrity of its characters.

Malachy Tallack is the author of two non-fiction titles which fused nature writing, history and memoir; Radio 4 Book of the Week 60 DEGREES NORTH and THE UN-DISCOVERED ISLANDS. Malachy won a New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust in 2014 and the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship in 2015. He is a singer-songwriter, author and journalist.

Award-winning writer and poet Richard Marsh stars alongside Russell Tovey and Phil Daniels in this new, heart-warming sitcom set in a greetings card company.

This week, Will's asked to be best man at a wedding. As a man who spends every day writing heartfelt sentiments, the speech is easy - Will's used to writing other people's feelings. It's much harder to confront his own.

Richard Marsh is the writer and star of Love and Sweets, a Radio 4 comedy series that won Best Comedy in the BBC Audio Drama awards 2014. Now, in Cardboard Heart, he plays Will, a hapless romantic who's keen to find love and an aspiring writer with a 9 to 5 job writing poetry at a greetings card company.

Will shares an office with Goadsby (Rebecca Scroggs), who's responsible for the card artwork and being Will's nemesis, Colin (Sam Troughton), the firm's safety and survival-obsessed accountant, and charming renegade salesman Beast (Russell Tovey). Phil Daniels plays Rog, their roguish boss.

Paid to express heartfelt emotions for people he will never meet, Will consistently fails to express himself properly to anyone he does meet. Every social interaction is a minefield for Will. In his head, he knows exactly what to say but the minute he opens his mouth, it's a disaster. Luckily for you, Will shares his inner thoughts with the audience.

Written and created by Richard Marsh
Directed by Pia Furtado
Produced by Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.

News from Westminster.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Catherine Butcher, Communications Director of HOPE.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Song Thrush. The male's song in the dawn chorus includes a repertoire of over a hundred different phrases making it one of the richest songs of any British Bird.

Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.

"Your true colors...are beautiful, like a rainbow..."

Billy Steinberg's lyrics were originally inspired by his mother but his song writing partner Tom Kelly recognised it's universal appeal and with a slight re-write, it became the song that Cyndi Lauper made famous the world over.

Growing up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ken Kidd could never truly be himself. Watching Cyndi Lauper perform True Colors on MTV showed him that is was OK to be different. Years later he describes his pride at watching the Rainbow Flag being raised above the Stonewall National Monument as he and other LGBTQ campaigners sang that same song.

Lesley Pyne learnt to sing 'True Colors' with her local choir. It's a song that resonated with her more than she had ever expected. After six attempts at IVF, Lesley had had to come to terms with the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to have children. It wasn't easy. It has taken years of digging deep to work through the grief but now she helps others to find their true colours and firmly believes that they can be beautiful, like a rainbow.

And in 1999, Caroline Paige, a jet and helicopter navigator in the Royal Air Force, became the first ever openly serving transgender officer in the British military. She rose above the extraordinary challenges placed before her to show her 'True Colors' whilst serving her country on the front line in the war on terror.

Featuring songwriter Billy Steinberg and music from The Rock Choir

Produced by Nicola Humphries.

Transparency is a political and cultural ideal, entrusted with fostering accountability and strengthening democracy, a pan-political good: embraced by the Left as well as the Right. Openness is advocated not just for governments, but for people too. The assumption, we must air our secrets for our own health and peace of mind. "You are only as sick as your secrets," a saying that has been used by Alcoholics Anonymous for decades, sums it up. We hear from a cross dresser who by keeping his desire to dress as a woman a secret gives himself the space to experiment. He believes that only those who need to know should know about his secret to protect his relationships.

Produced by Kate Bissell.

Benjamin Zephaniah reads his autobiography. The seeds of his passion for poetry and politics begin to grow.

Having spent much of his teens on the wrong side of the law and with time in approved school and borstal, Benjamin realises quickly there is more to life than this. Always interested in politics and religion, he finds Rastafari and quickly recognises that it enables him to explore both.

Written and read by Benjamin Zephaniah
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

Henry James' classic novel dramatised by Linda Marshall Griffiths.

Kate Croy is in love with Merton Densher; a poor writer. Her rich aunt Maud disapproves. Maud has offered Kate a wealthy existence but if Kate chooses to marry Merton she risks losing it all. When American Heiress Milly Theale steps into her London society, Kate sees a way out.

Directed by Nadia Molinari.

A couple consider how changing attitudes have affected their desire to become fathers and what adopting their son has meant to them. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Matt is 25. He has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app on his iPad. Everyone who cares about Matt knows that this isn't the defining thing about him. He is funny and clever and "up for stuff" - partly because he is keen to show that there's nothing he can't do, but also because, if he's honest, he's aware that he's less likely than other people to get the blame.

Now Matt's left home for the first time and moved in to share a flat with his best mate, Jess. But when Bob (Allan Mustafa) shows up as the new carer, the fun really starts. Bob is new to the job and, although willing, domestic duties are not really his forte. He's better at selling weed and dealing in knocked off iPads.

But he likes Matt and treats him like a real person. So, as far as Matt is concerned, Bob is here to stay.

Ability is the semi-autobiographical co-creation of Lee Ridley, otherwise known as Lost Voice Guy. Like his sitcom creation, Lee has cerebral palsy and can only speak via an app. Lost Voice Guy is - probably - the first stand up comedian to use a communication aid. He won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2014, has done three full Edinburgh shows and been tour support for Ross Noble, Patrick Kielty and Jason Cook. Lee has previously worked for Sunderland City Council's communications team, and the BBC in Newcastle and London as well, as various local newspapers.

Katherine Jakeways is the co-creator and co-writer of Ability. Katherine is a multi-award nominated writer. She has written North by Northamptonshire, Guilt Trip and All Those Women for BBC Radio 4 as well as numerous radio plays. She has also written for Crackanory and The Tracey Ullman Show for TV along with a BBC 1 pilot, Carol and Vinney.

A Funny Bones production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Mark O'Connell argues that in an age of strong opinions, we should embrace ambivalence.

As a child, Mark's constitutional ambiguity meant his mother considered printing the phrase 'I might and I mightn't' on a t-shirt. Today, Mark's job as a writer for Slate magazine is to take strong positions. In this fascinating look at the role of ambiguity in our society, he attempts to square the circle - or should that be circle the square - in his determination to have the courage of his own ambivalence.

Producer: Richard Knight.

Consumer affairs programme.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

In the early 1920s, he was just a library assistant at Peking University. Yet by the end of his life, he would rule a fifth of all humanity, turn China into a major power, and destroy the lives of millions in a Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong was the person, above all others, who made modern China. Yet what shaped him? The romantic novels he read in his youth, the years on the run, reading Marxist theory, or the desire to write the story of the Chinese people on a "blank sheet of paper"? Rana Mitter retraces his early years, including those days studying at the heart of China's "new culture" movement of the interwar era. Mao's embrace of modernity and renewal, but also of violence and anger, would create a new China, but also shape horrific tragedy, leaving a legacy that is still central to China today.
Producer: Ben Crighton
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.

Low level crime and loansharking has replaced the nationalist struggle in the Fury household in West Belfast. The past, however, is never far away and it rears its head forcefully when Lorraine discovers the shocking truth behind her sister's disappearance, years ago, at the height of the Troubles.

The playwright Tom Kelly, himself a native of West Belfast, has written a gritty and powerful drama populated by people who live on the edge of society but who are nonetheless effected by its changes.

Des McAleer and Kathy Kiera Clarke lead the cast in this powerful and sometimes violent drama - a Celtic Noir.

Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Writen by Tom Kelly
Produced and directed by Boz Temple-Morris

A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.

Financial phone-in.

Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.

Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Malawian Comedian Daliso Chaponda looks at the relationship between the UK and Africa.

The UK and Africa have had a long a complicated past. This series looks at the history of this relationship and Daliso is our relationship guidance counsellor, helping us navigate the rocky historical waters between the two places.

A Malawian comedian who grew up all over the world, Daliso straddles cultural divides. He will help us all better understand how to sort out our differences. Or not...

In this first episode Daliso looks at the origins of the relationship and asks how the UK and Africa first met.

Written and performed by Daliso Chaponda
The Other Guy... James Quinn
Theme music by Lawi

Production Coordinator... Beverly Tagg
Producer... Carl Cooper